The Uptake | Protests Against War Grow As Deaths, Debt Pile Up
St. Paul, MN, March 19, 2011. As the US launches another military attack in Libya, America is getting war weary. The war Afghanistan is now grinding into its 10th year and Iraq casualties continue even as the US draws down. Disapproval polls keep creeping up and the Washington Post poll reported on March 16, 2011 that 64% of the public feel the Afghanistan war is, “Not worth it.”
It’s no wonder then, that anti-war marches such as the one that happened this Saturday in St. Paul are attracting more and more people. About a thousand peace activists marched two miles down University Avenue to the State Capitol, making it the largest such gathering for several years. Several dozen peace, anti-war and other civic groups participated. The crowd was exuberant and noisy, but very well behaved.
Organizers of the march invited marchers to bring old kitchen pots or pans, and spoons. They shouted about money going for war but not for health care or education.
This protest was one of many held across the nation as part of a national day of protest against war. Coincidentally the protest happened the same day the US started launching missiles into Libya.